Add some excitement to your Valentines Day with the gift you really want:
EFFORTLESS STYLE.
Enter to win a
($100.00 Value)
Enter to win your Virtual Style Consultation.
During a 60-minute Virtual Style Consultation over the phone, we’ll discuss your style goals, answer your questions, and uncover the best way for you to get effortless style. We will use a style-assessment workbook and digital pictures you send to help develop the personal style you desire.
In your 60-minute Virtual Style Consultation, you’ll learn . . .
Here’s how it works: Using a style assessment and digital photos, we will help you determine the right clothing for your body type and easy ways to update your current wardrobe. All you need to do is fill out our style assessment, send photos, and show up for the call. It’s that easy.
Celebrate you this Valentines Day and enter to win.
Winner to be randomly chosen and announced on Valentines Day, February 14th.
GIFT CERTIFICATES ALSO AVAILABLE
Until I met Mel, with Virtual Fitness Coach, I would not have believed that I a)needed a personal trainer or b) could afford one. I started working with Mel about a year ago and discovered why I never got the results I wanted even though I was regularly going to the gym. He creates workouts that keep me coming to the gym and ensures that I will see results if I’m willing to put in the effort. I interviewed Mel so you too could get some insight into the best way to live a healthy and active lifestyle.
Lee: “Mel, tell us a little bit about yourself and why you started Virtual Fitness Coach.”
Mel: “I’ve experienced what most people who want to lead a fit and healthy lifestyle have experienced. I’ve allowed work and life to get in the way of exercise and healthy nutrition. I have been severely overweight and unfit. Not anymore. I learned what I need to do and have practiced and preached that for the last ten years. Now as I approach my 50th birthday, I’m fitter than most people half my age.
While working as a personal trainer, I realized that for every person who can afford to hire me one on one, there are thousands of others who need my knowledge and skills that can’t afford to hire me. That’s when I set out to ‘virtualize’ myself and create an affordable option for the masses through Virtual Fitness Coach.”
Lee: “What is the best way to lose weight and get fit?”
Mel: “There really isn’t one ‘best way’ to lose weight or get fit. I think the biggest challenge to losing weight or getting fit is acknowledging the fact that it’s a permanent thing in your life. A little like children! If my 16 month old son decides to get up an hour earlier than planned, I can’t just ignore him because I’ve got something else I need to do. The same goes for eating healthy and exercising. When you acknowledge the fact that what you do or don’t do today for your health and fitness affects your future quality of life, you’re on your way.”
Lee: “You are a busy entrepreneur, a father, a husband, AND a personal trainer. What kind of advice can you give to help people make fitness a lifestyle choice they keep forever?
Mel: “You can’t let your life keep you from exercising. Over the last 25 years, there have been a few years where you would barely recognize me because I was so fat! And now as I hit 50, I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m able to look back at the mistakes I made and see that I allowed my life to get in the way of exercise. Today I’m ten times busier and in great shape compared to my fat days. So there’s something missing from that observation. Simply stated, it’s goals. And by goals I mean something with an end point that you work towards. I just signed up for the ING half marathon in Atlanta at the end of March. So did my wife. Which means we’d better get running!”
Lee: “How can you get fit if you can’t afford a gym membership?”
Mel: “Sometimes joining a gym isn’t the best option. Especially if you can only go at peak hours when parking is impossible and you’re fighting for equipment. It makes the decision not to go and work out a lot easier. But if you buy just a few simple items such as: resistance bands, a jump rope and a pedometer you can have some of the best workouts you could ever imagine. Just ask some of my clients who I take outside to jog/walk and exercise with resistance bands.
Lee: “I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t lift weights because they are afraid they will bulk up. Is this true?”
Mel: The old saying among trainers is “abs are made in the kitchen”. Which means if you want to lose weight and have a flat belly then the majority of your effort should be focused on what you eat. It’s even more of an issue if you want to ‘bulk up.’ In my 30 years of training I’ve helped less than 5 women gain muscle size. And all of them came to me with that as their primary goal. And they all realized that for them to get bigger it was a simple matter of eating more food than they could ever have imagined. So, if you’re leery about lifting weights and bulking up just take a look around a gym and seek out the girls with the best physique and I can bet you they are the ones lifting the heaviest weights.
Lee: “Why hire a personal trainer?”
Mel: “The best way to describe what it’s like to hire a personal trainer is to use a GPS device as an analogy. A GPS takes the guesswork out of the equation. You plug in your destination and then sit back and relax as this voice guides you until you’ve reached where you want to go! That’s a trainer. Whether that’s one on one, or as a virtual coach.
· Sleeve Length Long sleeves on a shirt should stop just below your wrist bone. If you are wearing a jacket or blazer the sleeve should stop right in the middle of the meaty part of your thumb.
· Sloppy Shoulders Shoulder seams on a garment should be AT your shoulder. A common fit problem is a shoulder seam that hits below the shoulder, causing a sloppy ill fitting look.
· Jacket Length If the fit of your jacket is the wrong length it can distort the way your body looks. For example, a jacket that is too long will make your legs look shorter, making you look shorter. A good rule of thumb is for your jackets to be no longer than a few inches below your hip bone.
· Shirt Gaps A button front shirt should not pull or gap. If you have a larger chest this is probably a common fit problem for you. Buy the size that fits your chest. If the rest of the shirt is too big, a tailor can size it down for you.
· Pant Length Hem your pants to be ¾ of an inch from the ground helping give you a long and lean leg line.
· Waistband Gap This is a very common problem for curvy women. The gap in the back of your waistband can be taken in by your tailor. Buy your pants to fit the widest part of you and take in the waist.
· Mind Your Rise The fit of the crotch, or rise, of a pant can make or break your look. If you get a lot of pulling and wrinkling across your crotch, your pants are too small. If you get a lot of excess fabric around the crotch area your pants are too big.
· Uneven Skirt Hem Your skirt should have the same length hem all the way around. The curve of our bum can hike up the back of a skirt. Make sure you look at yourself in a mirror from front and behind to combat this fit problem. Consult your tailor and discuss letting the hem out in the back of the skirt or shortening the front.
Remember that great fit is the first step to having great style. Everyone has one fit challenge so discover how to combat yours. For help determining proper fit for your body contact Charleston Style Concierge.
Stop disliking the way you look in pictures and use these tricks the next time you are in front of a camera.
· Mind your feet. Position one foot in front of the other. The heel of the foot in front should align with the ball of your other foot. Swivel your hips, and turn feet slightly away from the camera, narrowing your image.
· Give a great smile. Think of something pleasant and give an authentic smile. If you place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth as you smile, you will relax your facial muscles and avoid a double chin.
· Don’t press your arms to your body. Instead of resting your arms against your torso, slightly angle them back from your torso.
· Wear dark colors. Dark colors are always the most slimming in pictures, and bring more focus to your face.
· Set down your drink. Point your hands down around the edges of your hips to make your hips look smaller. If you are holding a drink, set it down.
Check it out at:
http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/dressing-the-first-lady-1875632?module=featured_1875632
Ever feel guilty about buying another pair of shoes? Not anymore! Owning a lot of shoes in differing styles and heel heights is good for your health and style. Marlene Reid, a podiatrist in Westmont, Illinois, and a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association, justifies your shoe fetish in an article from Real Simple magazine.
The Podiatrist Says:
· Size yourself up. Have your feet measured every few years — especially after a pregnancy or if your weight has changed. “Don’t just routinely buy the size you’ve always worn,” says Reid, because wearing shoes that are too small can exacerbate foot problems, like bunions, corns, and hammertoes.
· Change your shoes. You shouldn’t wear the same heel height every day. “Even half an inch of difference changes the pressure on the foot and stretches out the Achilles,” says Reid. Take that as a good excuse to buy those cute flats or kitten heels.
· Banish bare feet. When you go barefoot or wear shoes that have no arch support or motion control (like flip-flops), the plantar fasciae, the connective tissue that runs under the feet to the heels, can get overworked. The result is often heel pain.
Get more great tips from medical specialists from Real Simple. For more information on great shoes for your personal style contact Charleston Style Concierge.
It is possible to feel stylish and comfortable. Use these tips to create a style you are comfortable in.
1. Ask yourself why you are unhappy with the way you look? How does your look make you feel? There is a way to counteract those negative feelings with clothing, while being comfortable and staying true to who you are.
2. If you feel unattractive, you are focusing on the wrong things. Find the parts of your body that you like (If you can’t find them, ask a friend) and learn how to accentuate them.
3. Make an effort to learn about your body type. We are all different shapes and sizes, which means we will not all fit into the same pair of pants. Learn about fits and designers that work best for you.
4. If comfort is key, be realistic about your lifestyle when making clothing choices. If you are on your feet all day wear a fashionable flat or kitten heel. Save your amazing new platform pumps for a dinner that includes valet.
5. Clothing effects the way you feel about yourself and changes the way you are perceived by others. With that in mind, only buy clothing you love.
Want to learn more about merging style and comfort? Contact Charleston Style to learn more about our services. www.charlestonstyleconcierge.com
5 Tips & Tricks About Bras
1. Give your bra a rest. Wearing your bra more than two days in a row wears out the support elastic. A day of rest will give it a chance to recover its memory.
2. When you purchase your bra it should fit snuggly on the loosest hook. As the bra ages you can tighten it using the remaining hooks to maintain the original fit.
3. Get fitted at least once a year. Breast size fluctuates due to many factors like age, weight gain/loss, and pregnancy.
4. Try your bras on before you purchase them. Bras are like clothing, every brand will fit a little differently.
5. Quality vs. quantity pays off.
New Bra, Now What?
Now that you have a new bra, use your clothing to accentuate your chest in the most flattering way.
1. If you have a large chest use a v-neck to visually separate “the girls,” making you appear slimmer.
2. Halter tops are a small chest’s best friend. The angle of the halter flatters a small chest and gives you an opportunity to show off sexy shoulders.
3. Just say no to thick stripes and ribbing across your chest. A large chest makes the stripes and ribbing look more like ocean waves.
4. Choose clothing that conceals your bra straps.
5. Use fitted jackets to create and show off a waistline giving you a defined hourglass shape.
I recently read a magazine article that inspired me to start this blog. The article asks the question, “Can we be comfortable in our clothes, and at the same time, feel attractive and happy with the way we look?” It went on to wonder how the average woman could ever find style and happiness with themselves if a woman like Oprah is guilty of forgoing comfort in the name of fashion.
I believe every woman can feel confident, comfortable, and stylish in her clothing. Often we hide behind frumpy clothing in the name of comfort. What most women don’t understand is they can be both comfortable and fashionable, it just takes a little bit of effort and is far from impossible. My services help women find a balance between comfort and fashion that makes them feel happy and self-confident.
This blog will provide great style tips and tricks. Look and feel great every time you walk out the door. Don’t settle for anything less.
Do you ever wonder how you can be more eco-friendly with your clothing? Check out these 5 easy ways to Reduce, Resuse, Restyle
5 Ways to Reduce, Reuse, Restyle
1. Edit your closet and discover how to wear what you already have more.
2. Restyle what you already own.
3. Shop and sell at consignment stores.
4. Donate your edited clothing to Dress for Success.
5. Host a Style Party with a clothing swap.
Example of an old jacket restyled into something new and fabulous!
More often than not, each piece of your brand image was created when you needed it, but not altogether in a strategic fashion. Your image may look fine, but does fine help you grow?
Eventually as you scale, your image foundation cracks, and the way your business presents itself no longer helps propel growth – costing you time and money to fix.
When you unlock your brand power, you get to pick and choose how people perceive you and your brand.
Our Image Mastery System™ takes the 5 key brand components that you already have and ties them together in a way that amplifies your results and achieves your vision.
